A fury of Fords broke through the pack under threatening weather to finish 1-2-3 and win the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday.

Roush Yates’ powered Fords worked together all day to bring home a win at a race plagued by rain. David Gilliland locked up with David Ragan for a tremendous last-lap push to the finish that put Ragan in Victory Lane and gave Front Row Motorsports their first Sprint Cup Victory.

“I’m kind of a low-key guy, but man, this is awesome. First off, I’ve got to thank the Lord. Without him nothing is possible. I’ve got to thank my teammates David Gilliland and Josh Wise. If it wasn’t for that final push from David Gilliland, I don’t know what to say,” said an elated Ragan in Victory Lane. “This is a true David vs. Goliath moment here.”

“Our Farm Rich Ford was fast,” Ragan continued. “We made the right pit calls all day. We’re a small team. We build our own chassis, our own bodies. I can’t thank Ford Racing, Doug Yates, Robert Yates, and Jack Roush enough. Man, it’s a special moment for all of our partners here. This is big.”

NASCAR slowed the race on lap 122 and stopped if after lap 125 when showers arrived shortly after 3pm EST. Carl Edwards had nosed ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. moments earlier, leaving the Fords of Edwards, Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowski at the front of the field. After a 3 hour and 36 minute rain delay, the race was re-started and Gilliland and Ragan saw an opportunity to make their move.

“What a great day for Front Row Motorsports, an underfunded team coming in here and being able to finish 1-2 is awesome,” said Gilliland. “I’m very proud of David Ragan. I know he would have done the same for me. I had a heck of a run, we were pushing. I was locked to his bumper and I wasn’t going to let him go.”

Bob Jenkins, owner of Front Row Motorsports, shared in David’s excitement.

“I tell you what makes it special is just the time and the effort that these guys put into these cars,” said Jenkins. “There are a lot of owners out there that they get the best available driver they can get and they’re like a hired gun, but the thing that I think makes our team different than some of the rest is that we’re so close. More than anything we’re friends and I know I’ve got drivers that are capable of winning races.”

Roush Yates’ Fords were also fast in the Nationwide Series, where Travis Pastrana earned his first career pole. Pastrana circled the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway with a fast lap of 176.500 mph for the Aaron’s 312 on Saturday.

Roush Yates Engines showed power and performance on the grassroots circuit this weekend as well. Davey Johnson, a seasoned veteran in the dirt late model series, dominated the Late Model feature at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night in the Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Model divison. Johnson started on the pole with his Roush Yates powered 410 Ford Dirt Late Model engine and ran away with his second feature win in the last year.

Gregg Satterlee completed a personal weekend sweep winning Friday night at Eastside Speedway and Saturday night at Winchester Speedway. Satterlee started seventh at Eastside Speedway on Friday and pulled away to a five second lead to earn his first victory of the season on the Three State Flyers circuit. He followed it up Saturday night at Winchester Speedway by leading all 35 laps in the Lee Stultz Memorial race.

RYE PR

Race Highlights:

• Richard Childress Racing teammates finished 26th (Paul Menard), 28th (Jeff Burton) and 40^th (Kevin Harvick).
• Menard is eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, trailing leader Jimmie Johnson by 93 markers, while Harvick ranks 12^th, 107 points back, and Burton sits 19^th, 148 points out of the top position.
• The No. 27 Chevrolet SS team ranks eighth in the Sprint Cup Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 29 team 13^th in the standings and the No. 31 team 22^nd.
• According to NASCAR's post-race loop data statistics, Menard ranked seventh in Fastest Laps Run (six laps).
• Burton made 143 Green-Flag Passes during the 192-lap event.
• With a lap time of 188.611 mph, Harvick ranked second in the post-race loop data category Fastest on Restarts.
• David Ragan earned his first victory of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and was followed to the finish line by David Gilliland, Carl Edwards, Michael Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson.
• The next Sprint Cup Series race is the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, May 11.The 11th race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on FOX beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Satellite Radio.

Menard Finishes 26^th in a Rain-Filled Event at Talladega Superspeedway

 

Paul Menard started the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway from the 16^th position on Sunday after qualifying was rained out and the field was set by Friday's first practice speeds. Running lap times as fast as the leader, the No. 27 CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet made its way toward the front of the field moving into 11^th at lap 10. A caution-flag period on lap 24 allowed Menard to stay out and lead lap 26 before coming to the pits. Restarting in 34^th, he quickly made his way to 19^th, when the caution flag was again displayed for a multi-car accident, which Menard narrowly avoided moving him into 11^th-place. Continuing to run in the top 10, Menard came to the pits for a routine green-flag pit stop and lost the lead draft causing him to fall back to 24^th. Working his way back to the lead pack, Menard's No. 27 machine began to overheat and he was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 121 to add water. Shortly after pitting, the red flag was displayed at lap 124 for a heavy downpour. After the rain showers subsided and the track dried, Menard restarted 32^nd, three laps down to the leader. After making several laps under green-flag conditions, the No. 27 began to overheat again and Menard was forced to pit to add more water. Restarting five laps down to the leader, with 54 laps remaining, Menard was able to avoid a multi-car accident in the closing laps to pick up several positions, ultimately finishing 26^th. Gaining one spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, Menard sits in eighth heading into the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

 

Start - 16 Finish - 26Laps Led - 1 Points - 8

 

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:

"Our CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet was fast today at Talladega Superspeedway. We avoided trouble early on and were able to run up front. Unfortunately, we overheated and had to spend some time in the pits putting us behind. We never gave up and where able to avoid "The Big One" at the end to gain some spots. It was a long day in the rain, but we were able to gain a spot in the points, so we're happy with that."

 

Harvick Finishes 40^th at Talladega Superspeedway

 

Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser team finished 40^th in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway after being involved in an early race, multi-car incident which led to engine issues that ended the team's day prematurely. The Richard Childress Racing driver started the scheduled 188-lap event from the 24^th position after rain canceled qualifying setting the field by the NASCAR rulebook. Harvick worked his way into the top 10, but spent the majority of the race riding around mid-pack in an attempt to avoid trouble synonymous with superspeedway racing. On lap 44, a multi-car accident broke out in front of the red and white Chevrolet. Harvick attempted to drive around the spinning cars, but was collected forcing the driver to come down pit road for the No. 29 team to assess the damage sustained. After surveying the car, the Budweiser Chevrolet was pushed to the garage for the team to make repairs. Harvick returned to the racing surface on lap 72 in the 36^th position, 25 laps down to the leader. Back on track, Harvick reported the engine had expired bringing the team's day to an early end. Following the 40^th-place finish, Harvick is now 12^th in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

 

Start - 24Finish - 40Laps Led - 1 Points - 12

 

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
"I feel like this race was a flashback to Daytona (International Speedway). We had a great run last weekend, and I was really hoping that we could carry that momentum into this weekend, but we didn't have a chance to make it to the end. I've got to thank the Budweiser team for working so hard to try and get us back on track. Wish we could have had a better result, but that's part of superspeedway racing."

 

Burton Collected in "The Big One," Finishes 28^th at Talladega Superspeedway

 

A multi-car accident on lap 44 collected Jeff Burton's No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet and spoiled any chance of a solid effort from the Richard Childress Racing team at Talladega Superspeedway. The South Boston, Va., native started the race in 29^th-place after NASCAR officials were forced to cancel qualifying due to persistent rain showers. After working his way into the top 10 early in the race, the 21-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner took the lead on lap 30, earning a valuable bonus point in his quest to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Shortly after making his first pit stop of the afternoon for fresh right-side Goodyear tires, disaster struck when Burton and 15 other competitors were collected in "The Big One". The black and yellow machine suffered significant damage that forced the team to make repairs during multiple pit stops under caution-flag conditions, with Burton eventually returning to the track two laps down to the leader in 36^th. The No. 31 Caterpillar crew, led by crew chief Luke Lambert, worked hard all afternoon and into the evening to keep the car running competitive lap times. Despite the damage, the team persevered through a three-hour, 46 minute red-flag delay due to rain showers. Burton also survived a 12-car melee with four laps remaining and gained eight positions to finish in the 28^th. With the result, Burton remains 19^th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

 

Start-29 Finish-28 Laps Led-1 Points-19

 

JEFF BURTON QUOTE:

"There really isn't too much to say about the wreck except we were very close to making it through without damage. It makes you think sometimes whether or not we should ride around in the back of the pack at these types of race tracks to stay out of trouble. I'm bummed for the entire team because we had a strong Caterpillar Chevrolet and led laps early. I am confident we will get back on track next weekend at my favorite track, Darlington (Raceway)."

 

RCR PR

Danica Patrick missed a big accident early and outlasted a three-hour rain delay but couldn’t avoid a late-race multi-car crash, finishing a disappointing 33^rd in the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was in the middle of the pack of drafting cars on the backstretch on lap 182 when several cars began crashing in front of her. Despite her best efforts, she was caught up in the accident, and her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet suffered too much damage to continue.

“I’m probably sure the most common answer is, ‘I have no idea,’” Patrick said. “It happens out here; it is frustrating. Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) was trying to make it four-wide, and the No. 36 (JJ Yeley) came up to block him, and it turned him. Then the No. 78 (Kurt Busch) was spinning; I went high, and somebody came up and clipped me and put me in the wall. I’m not sure which car it was. The No. 32 (Terry Labonte), it looked like. Honestly, it is just the way it goes. People forcing the issue. It is late in the race; I get it. But that’s what causes these accidents that makes speedway racing speedway racing. It’s just unfortunate for everyone on the Go Daddy team.”

On lap 44, Patrick did a spectacular job avoiding a multi-car accident that unfolded in front of her in turns one and two. She went low on the track and missed several cars crashing in front of her before coming to a complete stop as her path was blocked with wrecked race cars. She then drove around the roadblock and continued, much to the amazement of her crew chief, Tony Gibson.

“We were watching, and we were like, ‘Holy cow,’” Gibson said. “The next thing you know is she came on the radio, and she just aimed for the empty hole. I don’t know how she missed the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) there at the end. The No. 18 came back down across, and she said she got loose when she got on the first apron. Then when she got on the flat, she got real loose. How she survived, I have no idea. The GoDaddy.com Chevy did good, and our spotter (Brandon Benesch) did an awesome job. It’s unfortunate how it ended up with the late-race crash. But that’s part of restrictor-plate racing.”

Patrick’s teammate Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, finished 32^nd. Newman, who led once for two laps, had his day cut short after being involved the same accident as Patrick.

The third member of SHR, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS, finished 27^th after being one of 16 drivers involved in the multi-car accident on lap 44 that Patrick avoided. He was able to return to the race but finished five laps down in 27^th place.

David Ragan won the Aaron’s 499 to break a 64-race winless streak. The win is his second career Sprint Cup victory and his first at Talladega.

Ragan’s Front Row Motorsports teammate David Gilliland finished .212 of a second behind Ragan in the runner-up spot while Carl Edwards, Michael Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five. Regan Smith, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Scott Speed and Aric Almirola comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 31 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 192-lap race, which was extended four laps by a green-white-checkered finish. Heavy rains also delayed the race for three hours, 36 minutes after the red flag was unfurled on lap 124.

With round 10 of 36 complete, Newman continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He fell one spot to 17^th and has 242 points, 141 back of series leader Johnson and 38 points behind 10^th-place Greg Biffle. Stewart maintained his 22^nd-place standing and has 224 points, 159 out of first and 56 behind Biffle. Patrick dropped one spot to 27^th place in the standings and has 180 points, 203 behind Johnson and 100 away from Biffle.

Sixteen races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11^th and 20^th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 20 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 13^th.

TSC PR

The “Big One” – the massive, multi-car accident that is a mainstay of restrictor-plate racing – happened on lap 44 of the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Among the 16 cars collected in the melee was the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS of Tony Stewart.

Stewart’s car sustained right-side damage, and the front of his black-and-orange Chevy was beat up, as well. As Stewart tried to evade the mass of spinning cars, the nose of his machine dug into the water-logged sod lining the inside of turn one and pushed in the grille, breaking many components of the car’s cooling system, specifically, the brackets holding the radiator.

While the car never had to go to the garage area, numerous trips to pit road were needed to realign the front end and fix the right-side bodywork, grille and radiator assembly. The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team worked quickly and methodically to get Stewart back onto the 2.66-mile oval.

When racing resumed, Stewart was two laps down and running by himself. With no one to draft with, the lead pack caught him on lap 73, which put him three laps down.

Stewart continued to log laps until rain washed over the track, forcing NASCAR to wave the red flag and stop the race on lap 125, 63 laps short of its scheduled 188-lap distance. A three-hour, 36-minute and six-second rain delay followed before the track was dry and racing resumed. Stewart soldiered on, finishing 27^th, five laps down, but avoiding a dreaded DNF (did not finish).

Faring no better in the Aaron’s 499 were Stewart’s teammates, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick.

Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet for SHR, finished 32^nd after getting caught in another multi-car crash on lap 182. Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for SHR, was collected in the same accident. She finished 33^rd.

David Ragan won the Aaron’s 499 to break a 64-race winless streak. The win is his second career Sprint Cup victory and his first at Talladega.

Ragan’s Front Row Motorsports teammate, David Gilliland, finished .212 of a second behind Ragan in the runner-up spot while Carl Edwards, Michael Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five. Regan Smith, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Scott Speed and Aric Almirola comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 31 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 192-lap race, which was extended four laps by a green-white-checkered finish.

With round 10 of 36 complete, Newman continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He fell one spot to 17^th and has 242 points, 141 back of series leader Johnson and 38 points behind 10^th-place Greg Biffle. Stewart maintained his 22^nd-place standing and has 224 points, 159 out of first and 56 behind Biffle. Patrick dropped one spot to 27^th place in the standings and has 180 points, 203 behind Johnson and 100 away from Biffle.

Sixteen races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11^th and 20^th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 20 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 13^th.

TSC PR

Trevor Bayne and the No 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion were flexing some Ford muscle in the early laps of Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Bayne started 15th after the line-up was set based on practice speeds, and after just seven laps, Bayne had the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion running in the top 10. He was in sixth place a lap later, and after dropping deep in the pack moved back into the top five by Lap 13.

As he entered Turn One on Lap 22, smoke billowed from the rear of his car, and he coasted onto pit road the victim of a rare engine failure.

“There was no warning at all,” Bayne said. “I got to Turn One, and it let go.”

Despite the disappointment – and the 43rd-place finish – Bayne was able to find some positives in an otherwise down day.

“We were lucky to hold onto it and keep this car in one piece because it’s going to be fast at Daytona in July,” he said. “I hate this for our team…It’s OK though because we’ve got good race cars.”

Team co-owner Eddie Wood, like his driver, tried to balance his disappointment over an early Talladega exit with the potential for a strong run at Daytona.

“We had a fast car, and we were doing the things we should have been doing early in the race,” Wood said. “We don’t know exactly what went wrong with the engine, but I do know it’s disappointing that we weren’t able to deliver a better result for Motorcraft and Quick Lane.”

He said he too is looking forward to getting the team’s best superspeedway car back on track at Daytona International Speedway in July.

“We thought we had a shot at the pole at Talladega and didn’t get to go for it because of rain,” he said. “So we’ll just take this car to Daytona and try to sit on the pole and win the race.”

But before they return to restrictor-plate racing, Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew will make their next Sprint Cup Series appearance on May 23-26 for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Wood Brothers Racing PR

Front Row Motorsports earned its first NASCAR victory Sunday night at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway when David Gilliland pushed teammate David Ragan to the checkers in a dramatic last-lap surge to cap off a wild and rain-interrupted race. Ragan earned Bob Jenkins' young team its first Sprint Cup Series win and Gilliland finished second for the best - and most dramatic - finish in team history.

The ending came in the form of a green-white-checkered finish, in which Ragan and Gilliland restarted in 10^th and 11^th respectively. In two laps, the pair freight-trained through the traffic in their Roush Yates-powered Ford Fusions to emerge at the front of the pack - seemingly out of nowhere and to the surprise and delight of the rain-soaked crowd.

The win is the second Sprint Cup victory for Ragan, and the runner-up finish ties Gilliland's best career result. The milestone event put partners Farm Rich (No. 34) and Love's Travel Stops (No. 38) in the spotlight in their first season working with Front Row Motorsports.

"This is a true David vs. Goliath moment here," Ragan said. "This is special to get Front Row Motorsports their first win. It feels like I've never been in Victory Lane before, I'm so excited. We're a small team. We build our own chassis, our own bodies, and it's such a special moment for our team and all of our partners. This is big."

For Jenkins, whose passion for racing led him to purchase a small NASCAR team in 2004, the Victory Lane champagne was long, and patiently, awaited.

"I've got guys at the shop that have the heart to win races," Jenkins said. "We just haven't always had the resources. So the challenge for me is, as we build cars, to make them better every week and to put ourselves in a position to win a race and that's really what happened (Sunday).

"It's just so satisfying to see that over the last nine years, we've gotten a little bit better every single year, and I felt the progress and I knew it was just a matter of time before we'd win one of these things."

The 1-2 finish almost didn't get the chance to happen. The 500-mile race was red-flagged at Lap 126 because of rain, and many thought the race would be declared over. Ragan sat in 18^th, Gilliland in 24^th and teammate Josh Wise in 26^th when racing was halted, and the drivers thought their workday was done.

But NASCAR saw clearing skies and the chance to finish the race under green. After a three-hour and 36-minute red-flag period, the track was dry and NASCAR called for drivers to return to their cars. The race saw one more lengthy delay after a multi-car accident on Lap 184, which led to the green-white-checkered finish. As dusk fell over the track and a light rain began falling once again, the field went green for two more laps of hard racing.

"My crew chief, Frank Kerr, said, 'You've got to have the restart of your life,' and we had a good one," remarked Gilliland. "It's a huge day obviously for any team to get first and second, but for Front Row Motorsports and our little team, and what we do it with, we're really proud of that."

Gilliland owned the team's previous best finish, a third-place showing in the 2011 Daytona 500.

Wise earned a commendable finish Sunday in his first full Sprint Cup race at Talladega, bringing home a top-20 finish after crossing the line 19^th.

The team will be back at work Monday to prepare for the series' next event at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Saturday night.

FRM PR

Travis Pastrana earned his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) pole at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, but finished 36^thin the Aaron’s 312 after a mid-race accident took the No. 60 Ford Mustang out of contention.

“I practiced with the 43 car and we had a strategy to stay in the back,” Pastrana said.  “I don’t know what happened, but we were up there in the front and got tangled up in someone else’s mess.  I just want to thank Jack Roush and all the team for giving me a great car out there.  I think we definitely could have put it on top if we just had a little more patience.”

Both Roush Fenway Racing (RFR) Ford Mustangs were strong in each of Thursday’s two practice sessions.  On Friday, Pastrana set the fastest lap, earning his first NNS pole and car owner Jack Roush’s first pole in the Nationwide Series at Talladega Superspeedway.

Saturday morning brought lots of rain, delaying the start of the race until nearly 5:00 p.m. CT.  Pastrana decided before the race that after leading a lap he would drop to the rear of the field in an effort to avoid the multi-car accidents that restrictor plate racing is known for.

At the drop of the green, Pastrana led his first laps in NASCAR competition, holding the point for the opening four laps around the 2.66-mile superspeedway.  After that Pastrana dropped to the back of the pack, according to his plan. 

The No. 60 team took the first opportunity to pit under caution on Lap 15 for right side tires and fuel.  Pastrana reported that he was very happy with the handling of the car.  On the restart, Pastrana continued to ride in the top-20, biding his time and ticking off laps.

Crew Chief Chad Norris called Pastrana back down pit road under caution on Lap 36, pitting for left side tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.  He restarted 12^th, but began to make his way to the front of the pack in his No. 60 Ford Mustang, climbing all the way to second by Lap 59.

On Lap 73, while running in the top-10, Pastrana was involved in an accident.  The damage was severe enough to end the day for the No. 60 team.

“We had a great car and could have met up with him [Trevor Bayne] later, but I didn’t stick to the strategy and that’s why I’m being hard on myself,” said Pastrana.  “Much thanks to the crew.  Everybody worked really hard.  I learned a lot about drafting.  I learned a lot about racing these restrictor plate races.”

Regan Smith took the checkered flag in a wild finish, while NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch rounded put the top-four.  Justin Allgaier finished fifth, while RFR teammate Trevor Bayne finished 28^th after his No. 6 Ford Mustang was involved in an accident. 

RFR PR